Can a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) be retroactive?That is, if an NDA is signed in one month can it cover the items disclosed in the previous month if it states that previous disclosures are included? Note: The disclosures in the previous month were not indicated to have been confidential or proprietary at the time of disclosureThanks.
No, unless the parties agree in the NDA that it will cover any release prior to the agreement, it is only effective from the date of the agreement forward. If you had no agreement prior you could not be in violation of the NDA that did not exist the previous month.
I hope you found my answer helpful, but please understand that if you did not get all of the information you may have wanted PLEASE USE THE REPLY BUTTON IF YOU HAVE FOLLOW UP QUESTIONS AND NOT THE FEEDBACK BUTTON FOR BAD SERVICE. PLEASE CLICK ON “OK,” “GOOD” or “GREAT” SERVICE. Kindly remember to ONLY rate my answer when you are fully satisfied. If you feel the need to rate anything less than OK, please stop and reply to me via the or REPLY TO EXPERT button with whatever issue or clarification you may need.
If you have additional questions, please keep in mind that I do not know what you already know or don't know, or with what you need help, unless you tell me. Please consider that I am answering the question or question that is posed in your posting based upon my reading of your post and sometimes misunderstandings can occur. If I did not answer the question you thought you were asking, please respond with the specific question you wanted answered.
Also remember, sometimes the law does not support what we want it to support, but that is not the fault of the person answering the question, so please be courteous.
PLEASE NOTE WELL, LEGAL ANSWERS TAKE MORE THAN “MINUTES” TO PUT TOGETHER AS WE ARE DEALING WITH LAWS OF 50 STATES PLUS FEDERAL LAWS, AS WELL AS DEALING WITH OTHER CUSTOMERS, SO PLEASE BE PATIENT IT WILL BE MORE THAN “MINUTES” IN SOME CASES BEFORE YOU GET A RESPONSE, BUT BE ASSURED YOU ARE NOT BEING IGNORED.
There can also be a delay of an hour or more in between my answers because I may be helping other customers or taking a break.
You can always request me through my profile at http://www.justanswer.com/law/expert-paulmjd/ or beginning your question with “For PaulMJD…”
The NDA includes the statement, "This Agreement is intended to [] while protecting each party's Confidential Information (including Confidential Information previously disclosed to the other party)"
From your answer and the statement from the NDA, it appears it does cover information disclosed prior to the NDA. Your opinion?
It protects information previously disclosed from being released from the date of the NDA forward. However, if you released information prior to signing the NDA, the agreement does not protect that as you cannot retract the information disclosed before you knew you had agreed not to disclose it.